Computers are evolving well beyond their traditional desktop roots. In addition to conventional desktop applications (e.g., word processing, spreadsheets, email, etc.), today's personal computers (PCs) are asked to play audio and video files, play music CDs (compact discs), receive and display broadcast programming, and so forth. Much of this evolution is being driven by the continued convergence of computing, Internet, telephony, and entertainment technologies.
As a result, the look, feel, and functionality of computers are continuing to evolve for different consumer and operating environments. For instance, computers designed for home entertainment might be implemented as a set-top box or a game console, equipped with browser software, one or more tuners, EPG (electronic programming guide) software, different audio/video drivers, and gaming software. Computers designed for office use may resemble conventional desktop PCs in appearance, but be implemented with broadcast tuners, DVD (digital video disks) drives, stereo speakers with surround sound, and so forth, to offer a more enhanced computing experience. The variety and functionality of portable computers are even wider ranging as the demands of the mobile user increase.
As computers are asked to perform more diverse tasks, it is not uncommon for users to expect performance of multiple tasks simultaneously. Due to this increasing user demand, there is more demand being placed on the existing resources to handle the various tasks. This unfortunately leads to a greater likelihood that the computer may not have sufficient resources at a requested time to accomplish all of the tasks simultaneously.
This resource shortfall is perhaps most evident for computers designed for the home entertainment environment. Such computers must not only be able to perform multiple functions simultaneously, but must also satisfy the demands of multiple different users. For instance, one user may request that the entertainment computer record a program at a specific time while another user may request the computer to tune to a different program at the same time. This a problem if the computer only has one tuner because it cannot possibly accomplish both tasks concurrently.
In such situations, the computer is at a loss to distinguish which task should be performed and which should not. Today, applications obtain resources on first-come or last-come basis. Accordingly, the applications control resource allocation irrespective of the users' desires. In the above example, if the television application seizes control of the tuner over the recorder application, the television application will control the resource (i.e., tuner) even though the users may be far more interested in recording the first program rather than watching the second program. Once the application obtains the resource, the resource is held by the application until it explicitly relinquishes the resource. Thus, as the demand for resources continues to grow, there is greater need for techniques to manage the resources and their allocation to different users and/or applications.